Retirement List now available in the Online Store

I posted the other day about the glitch in the Online Store that meant that the whole Retirement List wasn't showing under the correct heading - just letting you know that this has now been fixed.  You only have a few days left to grab these retiring goodies - and remember, some are heavily discounted!

Check it out now!

Holiday Catalogue Carry Over

Some people (well, not me) are super organised and like to get their Christmas stamping started mid-year.  With that in mind, you might like to have a look at the list of items which are still available from the 2013 Holiday Catalogue - click here to check out a PDF of the items you can buy, and order through my Online Store or if you prefer, email me to place your order.

These carryover items are only available until August 27 (after that, keep your eye out for a new Holiday Catalogue!)

Another Pinspired post

Just a little something I whipped up ... well, actually,  it took a lot longer than I'd expected, but that was mostly sponging each punched flower, and holding it together layer by layer as the glue dried.  The end result was totally worth it, though ...

Here's the pin that inspired this tag.  Hers is so much nicer, but I'm still happy with my little effort.  Some more practice and maybe I can get as gorgeous a result as my Pinspiration!

Images © 1990-2014 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Fabulous Phrases

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake, Whisper White Craft Ink

Accessories:  Blossom Punch, Banner Punch, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch

Retirement List - available online

I've only just realised that the link I gave out the other week to what I thought was the Retirement List in my Online Store actually only shows a few products that are retiring ... oops!  Not sure what happened there.

Anyway, just so you know what is definitely going and won't be available any more after June 30, I have uploaded spreadsheets into my Google Drive for you to have a look at.

The links are:

       Retiring Stamps

       Retiring Accessories

You can download these lists to your computer to sort in Excel, or open them in Google Sheets if you prefer.

Note that some of the products are discounted (but not all).  Also, some have sold out already - if you want to make sure you get your goodies before they're gone for good, please shop through  my Online Store to ensure availability.

Weekly Deals June 18, 2014

The Stampin' Up! Weekly Deals a few months ago were such a success, they have decided to continue indefinitely ... here's this week's batch, available until next Tuesday, June 24:

Don't forget to grab your bargains through my Online Store - otherwise you might miss out!

You make me happy

I love this stamp set.  I haven't used it nearly enough, and while it's currently available in the Occasions Catalogue, it will be gone from the end of June - it's one of those which didn't make the cut for the 2014-15 Catalogue :-(

Here's a card I made recently, pretty much a straight copy (I was low on inspiration that day) from a card I found on Pinterest.  I loved the colours on the original, but didn't want to do the exact same thing, so I went with a bright combination of yellow and blue/green (I still haven't decided which colour family Pool Party and Coastal Cabana fall into).

I also took the liberty of adding random stampings of the paint spatter stamp from Gorgeous Grunge, mostly because I managed to put a yellow smudge on the white cardstock after I'd done all the main stamping and needed to cover it up somehow rather than start all over again.  Your challenge is to find the smudge :-)

This card took a little work and judicious use of the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig positioner - this is a terrific tool, and under-appreciated a lot of the time, I think.

If you want to buy your own Happy Watercolour set, remember that it's only available until the end of June 2014.  Contact me to place your order!

Images © 1990-2014 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Happy Watercolour

Cardstock:  Crushed Curry, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White

Ink: Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Black Stazon

Accessories:  Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

Hello card

A couple of months ago, I posted a picture of a card I made while playing around with my Label Card and Circle Card Thinlits sets.

While I was on a roll that day, I also made this card ...

The basic idea is the same, and I used another element from the Thinlits (this time the star, the decorative frame and the banner from the Circle Card thinlit).

Images © 1990-2014 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Four You
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Soft Suede
Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride

Accessories:  Circle Card Thinlits

Late Christmas Post

I can't believe I never posted a picture of my 2013 Christmas card!

Yes, I did actually make some.  This year, however, I didn't to the 100 cards that I have previously done for my "real job" to send out to customers, just a few for friends and family.

It was quick and easy - two of my favourite things in a card :-)

Just a reminder - Raspberry Ripple is one of the outgoing In Colors, retiring effective 30 June unless sold out earlier.  Grab your supplies before they're gone for good!

Images © 1990-2014 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Mosaic Madness, Daydream Medallions, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Cardstock:  Raspberry Ripple, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White

Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Coastal Cabana

Accessories:  Kraft Grid Journal, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Basic Rhinestones

Introducing Project Life by Stampin' Up!

Are you a scrapbooker?  If so, you probably already knew this news - Stampin' Up! has partnered with Becky Higgins, she of Project Life, to produce a range of PL products using exclusive Stampin' Up! colours and accessories.

If you're not a scrapbooker, but would like to be, this might be the perfect introduction to the art.  All you need is a range of PL cards, some of the cool divided page protectors, and all those photos you currently have sitting around in boxes (or even - *gasp* - unprinted on your hard drive).

You can see the available range of Project Life products over at my Online Store - there is even a special corner rounder punch so you can customise the journal cards to suit your existing PL collection.  Also available are journalling pens, framelits (which will also cut your photo/DSP/cardstock to exactly the right size) and photopolymer stamps, plus of course a range of card collections.

Please contact me if you want more information on this awesome new range of products!

It's Adventure Time!

Just something fun for today's post - my daughter went to a friend's birthday a little while back, and needed a card.  Normally she just raids my samples for something suitable (rejecting many because they're just "too flowery".  I like flowers).  This time the card was for a boy, and I definitely didn't have anything to hand that she was willing to use.

So we put our heads together and came up with this ... ask just about any teenager who this is, and they'll know.  For those of you without kids in the right age group (ie. from 2 up to 20 or even older, apparently), this is Finn, the hero of the animated series Adventure Time.

We had a lot of fun making this.  The face is hand drawn and coloured with markers (including a White Chalk Marker from the current Occasions Catalogue for the teeth).  The hat is hand cut, with the Extra-Large Oval punch for the hold through which the face shows.  The background colours are, of course, reflecting the shirt and shorts that Finn wears.

I wonder if I'm brave enough to try to make a Jake card next time?

Images © 1990-2014 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:Cardstock:  Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Whisper White, (retired) Blush Blossom

Accessories:  Extra-Large Oval Punch, Chalk Marker, Primrose Petals Stampin' Write Marker, black permanent marker

Yet another Sneak Peek!

One of the features of the recent Stampin' Up! Convention has always been the make & takes - and this time we had something new - Mini Make & Takes!  Super quick little projects that can be made up in no time at all.  So quick, in fact, that even I managed to get them done (except the scrapbook page one, of course - two out of three ain't bad).

Here are my finished projects:

A notebook (new Kraft Grid Journals) decorated with stamps from Kinda Eclectic.

Closeup - see that text?  That's stamped with my new favourite colour, Blackberry Bliss.  It's not at its best stamped on a Kraft background, sadly.

Images © 1990-2014 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Kinda Eclectic

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Lost Lagoon

Ink: Tangelo Twist, Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow

Accessories:  Kraft Grid Journal, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Basic Rhinestones

One of the new Mini Muslin Bags stamped with stamps from Kinda Eclectic, and decorated with some new Tangelo Twist Stitched Satin Ribbon.  The greeting is Lost Lagoon ink, "stamped off" once to create a softer look.

Images © 1990-2014 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Kinda Eclectic

Cardstock:  Whisper White

Ink: Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon

Accessories:  Mini Muslin Sacks, Tangelo Twist Stitched Satin Ribbon

Another Sneak Peek at new products!

Here's a reminder that the new catalogue year starts on July 1, 2014 - and I have sneak peeks of some new stuff to show you!

I am still waiting for my pre-order stuff to arrive (actually putting the order in and not just dreaming about it would be a good start lol) but I have things which we made at the recent Stampin' Up! Convention which I can show you.

Here's the second make & take we did - a little pouch containing three cards, perfect for a gift for someone special...

These cards and the pouch showcase the new stamp set Amazing Birthday, which has a bunch of elements ready to make some awesome cards and gifts for your favourite people :-)

The pouch is made using the new Gift Card Enclosure pack (slightly modified to make a pouch a centimetre deep).  And here is a sample of the fifth new In Color for 2014-15 - Lost Lagoon.

Images © 1990-2014 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Amazing Birthday

Cardstock:  Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes, Gift Card Enclosure Pack, Lost Lagoon, Champagne Glimmer Paper, Crumb Cake

Ink: Lost Lagoon, Tangelo Twist, Hello Honey, Real Red

Accessories:  Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, Stars Framelits, Whisper White Bakers Twine

Butterflies in Blue

I still spend way too much time on Pinterest (check out my boards at www.pinterest.com/missusmack), pinning things that I may never even remember to look at again.

Sometimes, however, I am inspired enough to actually make something I've seen - this card, for instance:

This card was inspired by this pin, with a few changes, of course :-)

I had a bit of fun putting the colours together - so many blues/greens that work with each other!

Images © 1990-2014 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Fabulous Phrases

Cardstock:  Soft Sky, Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo

Ink: Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Pool Party, Soft Sky, Perfect Plum

Accessories:  Bitty Butterfly Punch, Basic Pearls, Corner Rounder Punch